1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a massage apparatus, more particularly to a low-noise massage apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, European Patent Application No. EP20100153605 discloses a conventional massage apparatus including an upright support frame 91, a casing 92, a moving unit 93, a massage unit 94, and a protection belt 95. The casing 92 includes a base wall 921, a surrounding wall 922 extending upwardly from a periphery of the base wall 921, and an upright elongated groove 923 formed in the surrounding wall 922. The support frame 91 is disposed in the casing 92 with a lower end thereof connected fixedly to the base wall 921, and has a U-shaped cross-section opening toward the elongated groove 923.
The moving unit 93 includes a pair of upright guide rails 931 mounted on the support frame 91, a moving plate 932 engaging slidably the guide rails 931, and a driving motor 933 for driving the moving plate 932 to move upwardly or downwardly along the guide rails 931.
The massage unit 94 includes a massage motor 943 disposed co-movably on the moving plate 932 and having a rotating shaft 942 that extends through the elongated groove 923 and that projects out of the casing 92, and a head piece 941 connected eccentrically to the rotating shaft 942 and driven by the massage motor 943 to rotate eccentrically.
The protection belt 95 is connected co-movably to the moving plate 932 and covers the elongated groove 923 to prevent insertion of fingers of a user and possible injury of the fingers. The rotating shaft 942 extends through the protection belt 95.
Although the conventional massage apparatus is capable of massaging a user's body, it has several drawbacks.
1. The massage motor 943 is disposed between the support frame 91 and the moving plate 932. When the rotating head piece 941 is pressed by the user, the distance between the support frame 91 and the moving plate 932 increases the distance between a force application point and a supporting point, causing the moving plate 932 to vibrate and to generate vibrational noises.
2. The support frame 91 is connected to the casing 92 only at the lower end thereof. When a user abuts against the rotating head piece 941 of the massage unit 94 for massage, differential vibration motion is produced between the support frame 91 and the casing 92, thereby resulting in considerable noises.
3. The protection belt 95 is clamped by the surrounding wall 922 of the casing 92 and is fastened to the moving plate 932. When the conventional massage apparatus is in use, because of the differential vibration motion between the support frame 91 and the casing 92, the protection belt 95 may vibrate vigorously and may even repeatedly hit the surrounding wall 922, creating annoying noises.
4. In order to provide the support frame 91 with sufficient robustness and stability, the base wall 921 of the casing 92 must be strong enough to support the support frame 91, and the base wall 921 must therefore have relatively large area and thickness, thereby requiring a bulky and heavy structure for the casing 92.
5. The rotating head piece 941 is attached directly to the rotating shaft 942 of the massage motor 943 such that when the user presses the rotating headpiece 941, the rotating shaft 942 tends to vibrate within the elongated groove 923 and even hit the surrounding wall 922.